What are your thoughts on the pricing in the NADA guides? How do they arrive at the values? Do they use actual sales or just guess?
I was in the retail new and used car business for decades....now retired. The NADA guides are, in my opinion, useful for many things as they contain a wealth of information. However, market values they reported usually seemed to be high, in my experience. They were most useful for banks and insurance companies when determining loan value or settling claims. But if a dealer tried to rely on them for immediate buying/selling decisions the info was unreliable. That is because in the late model used car market it was often very dynamic...on the same day, literally, the same models of cars might be selling for hundreds less, or more, in an auction only a few hundred miles away. The next week, the same vehicles at the same auction could be up or down. It is very difficult, impossible, for the once a month publication to accurately reflect the wholesale market. Not much different on the retail price reporting. But you are asking about "classic" cars you say! In my opinion, the best indicator of that category are the auction reports from around the country. Usually they carry accurate categorization, i.e. #1, 2, 3 etc and indicate what a real person wrote a real check for that day. What does not get well reported is the many, many private transactions.....nor an accurate categorization....and those figures are all over the price map. The guide books, at best, offer a range of prices but nothing that can be considered "gospel". As trite or cliched as it may sound, the old adage "things are worth what you can get for them" is very true. The older and more varied the condition, and a myriad of other factors that comprise collectibles, .....and the wide variability of the buyers in a given market,.... the more difficult it is to offer accurate forecasts. Ray
I agree with Ray. NADA is not accurate for older vehicles. Old Cars Price Guide and Black Book Cars of Particular Interest provide guidance to me.
NADA "classics" is worthless. Is the range accurate? No. Check it out yourself. Is your Plymouth worth $8872... maybe? Is your Plymouth worth $21,105... who knows Can one be bought for $700? Can someone spend $30,000+ on one? Sure. I have a guy that calls me about every two weeks with a "steal on a classic". He tells me about the vehicle and then states high NADA retail. I cuss his logic and tell him I will check it out. I then search and search the internet, including the HAMB classifieds, to see what people are "ASKING" for similar vehicles, in similar condition. If I am not comfortable with my findings but want the vehicle, I make an offer. NADA values are not considered. other threads http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=213372&highlight=nada http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=640455&highlight=nada http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=638654&highlight=nada and on and on search
I have to agree with the gents in the previous posts. The NADA book might be good for 'don't go over" but their prices usually seem to be out of touch with the real world on most cars. Results from real world auctions are probably the best source of the going prices of cars not including the after the drinks start flowing Auctions on TV. Plus just like late model O/T rigs location seems to be a big factor on the selling price of certain rigs. I'm still one of the hard core that belives that a "classic" car is only one that is listed on the Classic car registry of true classics. The newest listed one being the 56 Lincoln Mark II. Just because a car is over 25 years old doesn't make it a "classic" it makes it an old car and some are nice old cars. One thing I saw yesterday while attending an auction of a local businessman's collection of mostly modified vehicles is that the wrong modifications on the wrong cars kill the value to somewhere between slim and none. A 60 Coupe Deville w/o title that would have most likely brought 4 k if it had had the original drivetrain in it brought under 2 k because it had a big block Chev with dual quads sticking out the hood.
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